Former Columbia Councilman Baddourah seeking back pay from time he was suspended
.jpg "Former District 3 Councilman Moe Baddourah")
A former Columbia City Councilman is asking for back pay for 18 months he was suspended from office.
Former District 3 Columbia City Councilman Moe Baddourah is seeking back pay from the time he was suspended from Council in 2017 and 2018, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of Council’s dealings. On Council’s Tuesday agenda, there was an item set during a closed-door executive session for Council to receive “legal advice relating to a pending, threatened or potential claim.” The agenda lists a “former Council member” as the subject of that item.
Council discussed the issue in that closed-door session, but no action was taken Tuesday.
Baddourah, a career restaurateur, represented District 3 on Council for two terms. His bid for a third term fell short when he was defeated at the ballot box by Will Brennan in 2019.
But his time on Council was marred after he was arrested in July 2016 on a misdemeanor charge of second-degree criminal domestic violence. Baddourah was accused of hitting his then-wife with a car door in the parking lot of Rockaway Athletic Club restaurant and bar on Rosewood Drive. He was subsequently suspended from his District 3 City Council seat by Gov. Henry McMaster in March 2017. The governor, at the time, noted Baddourah had been charged with a “crime of moral turpitude.” Baddourah then sued McMaster in an effort to get reinstated to Council.
He eventually entered pre-trial intervention in the case, and charges were dropped when he completed that intervention. He came back to Council in October 2018, and lost his re-election bid the following fall.
Now he’s asked for back pay for the 18 months he was suspended. Council members make $13,500 per year, so 18 months would amount to about $20,000.
The State left a voice message for Baddourah on Monday.
When reached by phone, Mayor Steve Benjamin declined expansive comment on the issue, citing the fact it was on Council’s executive session agenda. However, when asked hypothetically if he would support back pay for Baddourah, the mayor responded, “No.”
Benjamin and Baddourah are longtime political rivals who ran against one another for mayor in 2013.
Despite the fact he lost his re-election bid nearly two years ago, Baddourah has stayed in the headlines.
His lawsuit against the governor went before the state Supreme Court late last year, and the state’s highest court ruled on the matter in March, issuing a unanimous opinion that affirmed a lower court’s decision to toss out Baddourah’s challenge to his suspension four years ago. The state Supreme Court said that the governor had the authority to suspend the then-District 3 Councilman while his criminal case was going through the court system.
This story was originally published April 19, 2021 at 3:05 PM.
